Two Peds in a Pod®

“What you forgot to tell the babysitter” and “When is my child old enough to babysit?”

babysitting cartoon

What you forgot to tell the babysitter

The first time my husband and I went out to dinner after our daughter was born, we walked out the door, got into the car, and sat in the driveway as my husband fretted over how our daughter was doing with the babysitter. “Did you see?” he said. “She looked sad when we left.” After a few minutes elapsed, he still had not started the car engine. Finally, to allay his fears, I told him to sneak back to the house and peek into the window. He came back amazed. “She’s fine,” he said with relief.

Finding someone to appropriately look after your child can be a difficult task. Even if you resist the urge to run back and check on your child when you leave the house, you may wonder as you pull away if there is anything you forgot to tell the babysitter. Chances are, you didn’t think of much beyond leaving your cell phone number and the name of your destination. Linda Miller, a nurse who taught a babysitting course for years for Child, Home, and Community (a United Way agency serving Bucks and Montgomery Country, Pennsylvania), shares with us the information she leaves her own babysitters:

Parents’ cell numbers

Kids’ names, ages and birthdays

House address (chances are, if your sitter lives down the street, she or he doesn’t know your house number)

The full name of the town you live in (is it Borough or Township?) In Nurse Miller’s case, there is a street of the same name in the neighboring township. Ever since the pizza delivery guy went to the wrong house one hungry night, her family is careful to be very clear as to where they live.

The nearest cross street. This important piece of information helps emergency responders confirm they are heading to the correct address. (It could also be helpful if your sitter is old enough to order pizza!)

Where you are going – name and address and phone number.

Phone number to call in an emergency: For most it is 911

Poison control center phone number : 1-800-222-1222

Height and weight of each child – for emergency medication administration

Allergies – to Foods and Medications

Since seconds count in an emergency, even if your sitter is a regular fixture in your home, it doesn’t hurt to point out the safety information each time, should he or she need it.

Remember to bring your sitter’s cell phone number with you so you can reach her, in case you cannot get through on your own house phone.

When is my child old enough to babysit?

Somehow the years passed quickly, and the tables have turned. My daughter herself is a babysitter. How will you know when your own child is old enough to babysit? First ask yourself whether he will be too scared to stay home without an adult. Then ask yourself if he can solve problems on his own. The age that kids start to babysit themselves or younger siblings varies. Ultimately parents need to judge their child’s maturity for themselves. Tweens can be mature enough to babysit themselves and a younger sibling for short period of time. In fact, the American Red Cross babysitting training course (which can be taken online) is offered to kids 11 years and older. Even if your child is not babysitting anyone else, but staying by himself at home, a course will give your child valuable self-care tips.

Outline specific Do’s and Don’ts for your child. Walk them through what to do if the doorbell rings or if the phone rings. What activities are they allowed to do? Are they allowed to eat? Cook? Can friends come over? What will they do in a power outage? What if someone gets injured or sick while you are out? Familiarize him with basic first aid.

Keep anything which is potentially harmful such as medications, guns, and alcohol inaccessible. Make sure you are comfortable with parental controls for computers and the television.

And of course…give them Nurse Miller’s list from above.

Naline Lai, MD with Julie Kardos, MD
©2013 Two Peds in a Pod®

June 2, 2013 by twopedsinapod

Calling Dr. Dads

father's day In honor of Father’s Day, we would love to hear your anecdotes of any “Doctor Dad” moments your children have experienced. Tell us about how your child’s dad or any father figure in your child’s life helped your child through a tough time, an illness, or an injury. Send us your anecdotes to twopedsinapod@gmail.com by June 4 and we will include the top stories in our Father’s Day post.

Thank you in advance,

Drs. Kardos and Lai

May 29, 2013 by twopedsinapod

Getting a leg up on growing pains

You tuck your child into bed and five minutes later he cries for you. You bolt back in to find him moaning that his legs hurt. You rub his legs, he feels better, and drifts back off to sleep. Later you can’t put yourself to sleep. “What was that all about?” you wonder.

Growing pains cause recurring leg pain at night that sometimes awakens children from sleep. They usually affect boys and girls in two age groups: three to five years old and eight to twelve. We don’t really know what causes growing pains. We do know that massaging the legs, one dose of pain reliever (acetaminophen or ibuprofen), and warmth can help. The kids are always fine in the morning. Often growing pains occur after a particularly active day. Fortunately, growing pains do not cause any long term problems, just temporary discomfort and some disturbed family sleep.

Before you chalk up leg pain to growing pains, you need to be sure that some other ominous source of pain is not waking your child. If you see any of these symptoms, schedule an office visit with your child’s doctor:

Leg swelling

Leg redness

The pain is always in the same spot on the same leg

Your child is limping

Your child stops participating in her usual activities because of the pain

The pain comes on during exercise

Fever is present with the pain

Simple massage or Tylenol fails to relieve the pain.

Your child is losing weight or seems otherwise sick

Leg pain is accompanied by night sweats: your child’s pajamas and sheets are soaking wet

The pains seem to be getting more frequent or worse

Pain in the daytime

Even without the above symptoms, if your parent intuition is telling you to get your child checked, then please do.

Julie Kardos, MD and Naline Lai, MD
©2013 Two Peds in a Pod®

May 16, 2013 by twopedsinapod

The definition of happy: Mother’s Day 2013!

mother's day cartoon This Mother’s Day we bring you definitions inspired by our children and our patients. Don’t think we’ll out-hip Urban Dictionary, but we’re moms…. by definition we are not hip. Enjoy your day.

Sleep walker: the daytime state of a new mom.

Sweater: a garment worn by a child when his mother feels cold.

Displacement: a vacation with toddlers.

Sick: something moms are not allowed to become.

WOW: MOM upside-down.

Mommometer: a mom’s hand on a feverish forehead.

One zillion: number of times a mom says “wash your hands” to her children over the course of their childhoods.

Yesterday: when the sports/camp/school field trip form was due.
Today: when the child hands the mom the sports/camp/school field trip form.

Working mother: Every Mom

Water torture: a grade-school son’s interpretation of a mom’s announcement of “shower night.”

Boomerang: a mom’s realization that her child is acting like she did at the same age.

Happy Mother’s Day from your two Pediatrician Moms,

Julie Kardos, MD and Naline Lai, MD

May 9, 2013 by twopedsinapod

Alcohol and drugs- what to say when your child tells you the truth about college parties

What would you do if your child told you he or she was drinking or using other drugs? Standing with one’s mouth gaping open is probably not the best response. As your child arrives back college, or if he’s about to embark on his first year, take the opportunity to discuss alcohol and drugs. Today, psychologist John Gannon talks about how to approach the subject. —Drs. Lai and Kardos

Okay, it happened. Your child went off to college and now he tells you his college experience is just as bad as yours was. Yes, he is doing well academically. But he is smoking pot and drinking alcohol– it is just about enough to push you over the edge. OMG!

I won’t tell you to relax about this, but remember for the most part, this is a transitional time and not necessarily a life changing scenario. After all, people have gone off to college for 100’s of years and survived. The likelihood that your child will be the exception is not overly high. Most likely, the actions are unlikely to be life changing and isolated to college. If this scenario occurs and you comment about drug and alcohol use, you will be acting responsibly without necessarily condoning the behavior.

So what is fair to talk about and what is probably too much to talk about? First, if there is any family history for either drug or alcohol abuse, this should be discussed. The family secret needs to be revealed so that your child has a chance to minimize the impact of biology/genetics. Painful as it may be, your child deserves the chance to understand why his situation is somewhat unique and that he is at greater risk for drug and alcohol abuse issues than other students.

Secondly, if there is any family history of depression, anxiety, mood disorder, or other significant mental health issues, this also needs to be revealed. These disorders run in families. The presence of these disorders increases the likelihood a person self medicates with drugs or alcohol in order to combat mental illness.

Next, isolated events do occur. We always hear about them from our friends. We are grateful that the events do not happen to us. Although these events do appear random, your child has the potential to experience one of them. For instance, episodic binge drinking can be epidemic at some colleges. Chances are your child will participate at some point or another.

Did you ever have that talk about alcohol and drugs that you promised yourself you would have with your child before he went to school? Did you explain about mixing substances? Did you explain about how the body metabolizes alcohol? Did you talk about how alcohol and marijuana lower impulsivity and reduce judgment? Did you tell him how proud of him you are and yet you also feel scared? Did you set the stage to have a dialogue versus a lecture from parent to child?

So go on! Have the talk even if your child already started college. Sure you might be met with some eye rolling. Don’t forget, you rolled your eyes at your parents. What goes around comes around. Listen, if your child hears one thing from you that he remembers, that’s a win! With luck, your child’s events are not the ones others are talking about.

John Gannon
Psychologist, Marriage and Family Therapist

Licensed psychologist John Gannon has over 25 years experience as a marriage and family therapist in the Philadelphia area. A father of a young adults, John Gannon has spoken both locally and nationally on family matters. He has addressed numerous teacher and parent groups, given advice on a radio call-in program, and has appeared on The Montel Williams Show.
___________________________

Information and tools to help prevent and treat drug and alcohol abuse by teens and young adults www.drugfree.org

If you are concerned your child is addicted : to find treatment- U.S .Department of Health and Human Services- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration – Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator www.findtreatment.samhsa.gov 1-800-788-2800

Naline Lai, MD and Julie Kardos, MD
©2013 Two Peds in a Pod®
Modified from the original 12/3/2009 post

May 7, 2013 by twopedsinapod

How do I know if my toddler has autism?

About half of all children in the United States with an autistic spectrum disorder are diagnosed at age five or older according to a May 2012, NCHS (National Center for Health Statistics) data brief. However, many parents are suspicious much sooner. As part of autism awareness month, we bring you clues in toddler development that can alert you to a potential issue. This post follows up on our earlier post “How can I tell if my baby has autism?”

Pediatricians often use a questionnaire called the M-CHAT (Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers) as a screening tool . This test can be downloaded for free. In our office we administer the M-CHAT at the 18-month well child visit and again at the two-year well visit, but the test is valid down to 16 months and in kids as old as 30 months. Not every child who fails this test has autism, but the screening helps us to identify which child needs further evaluation.

At 15-18 months of age, children should show the beginnings of pretend play. For example, if you give your child a toy car, the toddler should pretend to drive the car on a road, make appropriate car noises, or maybe even narrate the action: “Up, up, up, down, down, rrrroooom!” Younger babies mouth the car, spin the wheels, hold it in different positions, or drag a car upside down, but by 18 months, they perceive a car is a car and make it act accordingly. Other examples of pretend play are when a toddler uses an empty spoon and pretends to feed his dad, or takes the T.V. remote and then holds it like a phone and says “hello?” You may also see him take a baby doll, tuck baby into bed, and cover her with a blanket.

Eye contact in American culture is a sign that the child is paying attention and engaged with another person. Lack of eye contact or lack of “checking in” with parents and other caregivers can be a sign of delayed social development.

Kids try periodically to get their parents to pay attention to what they are doing. Lack of enticing a parent into play or lack of interest in what parents or other children are up to by this age is a sign of delayed social development. Ask yourself, “Does my child bring me things? Does he show me things?”Also, although they may not share or take turns, a toddler should still be interested in other children.

Many two-year-olds like to line things up. They will line up cars, stuffed animals, shapes from a shape sorter, or books. The difference between a typically-developing two-year-old and one that might have autism is that the typically-developing child will not line things up the exact same way every time. It’s fine to hand your child car after car as he contently lines them up, but I worry about the toddler who has a tantrum if you switch the blue for the green car in the lineup.

Two-year-olds should speak in 2-3 word sentences or phrases that communicate their needs. Autism is a communication disorder, and since speech is the primary means to communicate, delayed speech may signal autism. Even children with hearing issues who are speech-delayed should still use vocal utterances and gestures or formal sign language to communicate.

Atypically terrible “terrible twos”. Having a sensory threshold above or below what you expect may be a sign of autism. While an over-tired toddler is prone to meltdowns and screaming, parents can often tell what triggered the meltdown. For example, my oldest, at this age, used to have a tantrum every time the butter melted on his still-warm waffle. Yes, it seemed a ridiculous reason to scream, but I could still follow his logic. Autistic children are prone to screaming rages beyond what seems reasonable or logical. Look also for the child who does not startle at loud noises, or withdraws from physical contact because it is overstimulating.

By three years, children make friends with children their own age. They are past the “mine” phase and enjoy playing, negotiating, competing, and sharing with other three-year-olds. Not every three year old has to be a social butterfly but he should have at least one “best buddy.”

Regression of skills at any age is a great concern. Parents should alert their child’s pediatrician if their child stops talking, stops communicating, or stops interacting normally with family or friends.

It’ s okay to compare. Comparing your child to other same-age children may alert you to delays. For example, I had parents of twins raise concerns because one twin developed communication skills at a different pace than the other twin.

Although you may wonder if your child has autism, there are other diagnoses to consider. For instance, children need all of their senses intact in order to communicate well. I had a patient who seemed quite delayed, and it turned out that his vision was terrible. He never complained about not seeing well because he didn’t know any other way of seeing. After my patient was fitted with strong glasses at the age of three, his development accelerated dramatically. The same occurs for children with hearing loss—you can’t learn to talk if you can’t hear the sounds that you need to mimic, and you can’t react properly to others if you can’t hear them.

If you or your pediatrician suspect your child has autism, early, intensive special instruction, even before a diagnosis is finalized, is important. Every state in the United States has Early Intervention services that are parent-prompted and free for kids. The sooner your child starts to works on alternate means of communication, the quicker the frustration in families dissipates and the more likely your child is to ultimately develop language and social skills. Do not be afraid of looking for a diagnosis. He will be the same child you love regardless of a diagnosis. The only difference is that he will receive the interventions he needs.

Julie Kardos, MD, and Naline Lai, MD
©2013 Two Peds in a Pod®

April 29, 2013 by twopedsinapod

Baby-Led Weaning

A mom recently wrote to us: What are your thoughts on Baby-Led Weaning?

In Baby-Led Weaning, parents skip giving infants pureed foods and encourage their babies to self-feed whole foods. While there‘s little research on the merits of this method of infant feeding, there are few studies demonstrating the superiority of ANY particular method of introducing solid (complementary) food to infants over another.

It is acknowledged that even though a sequence of foods is outlined, that the sequence is a consensus not based on evidence. As a matter of fact, the old sequence is already changing in that meats to provide zinc and iron are encouraged sooner than later especially in breast-fed infants, says Chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics committee on nutrition, Dr. Jatinder Bhatia.

Here are our thoughts specifically about Baby-Led Weaning:

Starting solid foods, whether you start with pureed or finger foods, will always be baby-led. If you start with pureed foods, you allow your baby to enjoy the interaction with you until she tells” you she is no longer interested in the feeding by tongue thrusting the food out or by turning away. At this point, end the feeding.

Whether your baby learns to eat pureed foods from a spoon first or learns to chomp or gnaw on solids and turn it into a puree in her mouth likely doesn’t matter much. We don’t think that pureed foods have more or less nutritional value than whole foods. Nor do we feel that pureed foods are inherently more “babyish” than whole foods. Remember, adults enjoy pureed foods in the form of applesauce, hummus, and oatmeal as much as whole foods such as apples, grilled cheese sandwiches, and Cheerios.

Like all developmental milestones, it’s okay to help a child until she is ready to eat on her own. We put clothing on babies before they are able to dress themselves, but eventually they learn to put on their own shirts. In the same way, feeding babies off a spoon helps them until they are capable of grasping food, and later, their own spoons. Even when babies begin to self-feed, they can tire during a meal and need their parents to help.

Some kids do dislike pureed foods and go right to eating solid table food, but you won’t know unless you have tried.

The bottom line: enjoy feeding your child.

For more about starting solids, please see our prior post on this topic.

April 25, 2013 by twopedsinapod

How do I know if my baby has autism?

April is Autism Awareness Month. Here are some signs which may be indicative of autism in your infant. Later this month, we will bring you information about what to look for in toddlers.
Drs. Kardos and Lai

Autism is a communication disorder where children have difficulty relating to other people. Pediatricians watch for speech delay as a sign of autism. Even before your child is expected to start talking, around a year old, you can watch for communication milestones. Problems
attaining these milestones may indicate autism or other disorders such as hearing loss, vision loss, isolated
language delay, or other developmental delays:

By six weeks of age, your baby should smile IN RESPONSE TO YOUR SMILE. This is not the phantom smile that you see as your baby is falling asleep or that gets attributed to gas. I mean, your baby should see you smile and smile back at your smile. Be aware that babies at this age will also smile at inanimate objects such as ceiling fans, and this is normal for young babies to do.

By 2 months of age, babies not only smile but also coo, meaning they produce vowel sounds such as “oooh” or “aaah” or “OH.” If your baby does not smile at you by their two month well baby check up visit or does not coo, discuss this delay with your child’s health care provider.

By four months of age, your baby should not only smile in response to you but also should be laughing or giggling OUT LOUD. Cooing also sounds more expressive (voice rises and falls or changes in pitch) as if your child is asking a question or exclaiming something.

Six-month-old babies make more noise, adding consonant sounds to say things like “Da” and “ma” or “ba.” They are even more expressive and seek out interactions with their parents. Parents should feel as if they are having “conversations” with their babies at this age: baby makes noise, parents mimic back the sound that their child just made, then baby mimics back the sound, like a back and forth conversation.

All nine-month-olds should know their name. Meaning, parents should be convinced that their baby looks over at them in response to their name being called. Baby-babble at this age, while it may not include actual words yet, should sound very much like the language that they are exposed to primarily, with intonation (varying voice pitch) as well. Babies at this age should also do things to see “what happens.” For example, they drop food off their high chairs and watch it fall, they bang toys together, shake toys, taste them, etc.

Babies at this age look toward their parents in new situations to see if things are ok. When I examine a nine month old in my office, I watch as the baby seeks out his parent as if to say, “Is it okay that this woman I don’t remember is touching me?” They follow as parents walk away from them, and they are delighted to be reunited. Peek-a-boo elicits loud laughter at this age. Be aware that at this age babies do flap their arms when excited or bang their heads with their hands or against the side of the crib when tired or upset; these “autistic-like” behaviors are in fact normal at this age.

By one year of age, children should be pointing at things that interest them. This very important social milestone shows that a child understands an abstract concept (I look beyond my finger to the object farther away) and also that the child is seeking social interaction (“Look at what I see/want, Mom!”). Many children will have at least one word that they use reliably at this age or will be able to answer questions such as “what does the dog say?” (child makes a dog sound). Even if they have no clear words, by their first birthday children should be vocalizing that they want something. Picture a child pointing to his cup that is on the kitchen counter and saying “AAH AAH!” and the parent correctly interpreting that her child wants his cup. Kids at this age also will find something, hold it up to show a parent or even give it to the parent, then take it back. Again, this demonstrates that a child is seeking out social interactions, a desire that autistic children do not demonstrate. It is also normal that at this age children have temper tantrums in response to seemingly small triggers such as being told “no.” Unlike in school-age children, difficulties with “anger management” are normal at age one year.

As an informal screen for autism, children below one year of age should be monitored for signs of delayed or abnormal development of social and communication skills. Home videos of children diagnosed with autism reveal that even before their first birthdays, many autistic children demonstrate abnormal social development that went unrecognized.

April 15, 2013 by twopedsinapod

The effects of sugar on children … not so sweet

Today’s guest blogger, teacher and health coach Mary McDonald, teaches us how to understand the amount of sugar reported on nutrition labels and gives ideas for low sugar snacks —Drs. Lai and Kardos

Can you imagine packing lunch for your child and throwing a cigarette into the bottom of the brown paper bag? Well, many Americans may not be packing cigarettes in their kids’ lunches, but they are packing something addicting: sugar. As a family and consumer sciences teacher, I see what the students eat and their food choices are alarming.

In the past, my colleagues and our students worked together to bring awareness to drug prevention in a campaign called “Red Ribbon Week.” This campaign asks individuals to take a stand against drugs and live a drug free life. I now challenge the organizers of Red Ribbon Week to include excess sugar to their list of drugs. In 2008, Professor Bart Hoebel and his team in the Department of Psychology at Princeton University determined that mice given excess sugar demonstrated three qualities indicative of addiction: increased intake, withdrawal, and cravings. The subject of excess sugar has gained a lot of popularity over the past few years. A recent article in the NY Times, “Is Sugar Toxic?” highlights the negative health effects of excessive sugar consumption.

If you don’t trust the reports coming in day after day from physicians and researchers, then test it out at home. Tell your kids that you are going to skip dessert tonight after dinner. I can almost hear the blood-curdling screams from here. The image may be funny, but the reality of what we are doing to our children is not. Excess sugar causes weight gain, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and many other deleterious conditions. The President of the American Diabetes Association and a Pediatric Endocrinologist, Dr. Frances Ratner Kaufman, MD, reported in the fall 2012 Clinical Diabetes Journal that diabetes is no longer a disease of our grandparents, but instead it is a disease of our children. Type 2 diabetes is now considered an epidemic in the American pediatric population, up 33% in the past decade alone. Epidemic. If that doesn’t scare you, then think about the fact that our children’s generation is not expected to live as long as our generation.

Okay, enough about the depressing news. What can we do to stop these trends? My advice is something so simple, but not so easy. Turn over each and every label of your food and read the ingredient list and nutrition label. For this activity, focus in on the number of grams of sugar in each product. But what does a gram really represent? Well, here’s an easy conversion:

4.2 grams sugar= 1 teaspoon of sugar

So keep your life simple when you are reading labels and divide the number of grams of sugar by 4 to understand how much sugar you and your children are consuming. Take a look at a bag of Skittles®. Each 2.17 oz bag of original Skittles® contains 44 grams of sugar, or 11 teaspoons of sugar. Instead of reaching for that bag of candy, reach for something equally as sweet that contains far less sugar: an apple!

Here are some suggestions for snacks to substitute for sugar-filled junk food:

Banana and Natural Peanut Butter Circles– great snack for energy too!
Healthy Yogurt Parfait– a new twist on the “build your own” dessert.
Cheerios n’ Fruit- grab the old fashioned yellow box of plain Cheerios and top it with fruit of your choice. This is a great way to start your day or a great snack at anytime.
Trail Mix – it’s a satisfying treat with many health benefits.
Fruit Kabobs–who doesn’t like a kabob?
Homemade snack bars-this is a tried and true favorite in our house.
Apple and Cinnamon– you cut the apples and let the kids sprinkle on the cinnamon.
Fruit Smoothie– my favorite snack of 2013!

Mary McDonald holds a Masters of Education from Arcadia University and a health coach certification from Institute of Integrative Nutrition. A mom of four daughters, she teaches family and consumer sciences in Central Bucks School District, Pennsylvania. For more information on her health counseling services, please contact her at nutrition101withmary@gmail.com or visit her website at nutrition101withmary.com.

April 7, 2013 by

Allergy medicine: the quest for the best antihistamine

The antihistamine quandry
Junior’s nose is starting to twitch
His nose and his eyes are starting to itch.
As those boogies flow You ask oh why, oh why can’t he learn to blow?
It’s nice to finally see the sun
But the influx of pollen is no fun.
Up at night, he’s had no rest,
But which antihistamine is the best?

It’s a riddle with a straight forward answer. The best antihistamine, or “allergy medicine” is the one which works best for your child with the fewest side effects. Overall, I don’t find much of a difference between how well one antihistamine works versus another for my patients. However, I do find a big difference in side effects.

Oral antihistamines differ mostly by how long they last, how well they help the itchiness, and their side effect profile. During an allergic reaction, antihistamines block one of the agents responsible for producing swelling and secretions in your child’s body, called histamine. Prescription antihistamines are not necessarily “stronger.” In fact, at this point there are very few prescription antihistamines. Most of what you see over-the-counter was by prescription only just a few years ago. And unlike some medications, the recommended dosage over-the-counter is the same as what we used to give when we wrote prescriptions for them.

The oldest category, the first generation antihistamines work well at drying up nasal secretions and stopping itchiness but don’t tend to last as long and often make kids very sleepy. Diphendydramine (brand name Benadryl) is the best known medicine in this category. It lasts only about six hours and can make people so tired that it is the main ingredient for many over-the-counter adult sleep aids. Occasionally, kids become “hyper” and are unable to sleep after taking this medicine. Other first generation antihistamines include Brompheniramine (eg. brand names Bromfed and Dimetapp) and Clemastine (eg.brand name Tavist).

The newer second generation antihistamines cause less sedation and are conveniently dosed only once a day. Loratadine (eg. brand name Alavert, Claritin) is biochemically more removed from diphenhydramine than Cetirizine (eg. brand Zyrtec) and runs a slightly less risk of sleepiness. However, Cetirizine tends to be a better at stopping itchiness.
Now over-the-counter, fexofenadine (eg brand name Allegra) is a third generation antihistamine. Theoretically, because a third generation antihistamine is chemically the farthest removed from a first generation antihistamine, it causes the least amount of sedation. The jury is still out.

If you find your child’s allergies are breaking through oral antihistamines, discuss adding a different category of oral allergy medication, eye drops or nasal sprays with your pediatrician.
Because of decongestant side effects in children, avoid using an antihistamine and decongestant mix.

Back to our antihistamine poem:
Too many choices, some make kids tired,
While some, paradoxically, make them wired.
Maybe while watering flowers with a hose,
Just turn the nozzle onto his runny nose.

Naline Lai, MD with Julie Kardos, MD

Updated from the original post April 10, 2011

March 28, 2013 by twopedsinapod

Older Posts

Newer Posts